Old friend alert.
How do you get from San Francisco to Seattle?
The route from San Francisco to Seattle is an epic drive through redwood forests, wine valleys, mountains and some of the county’s most gorgeous coastline. You’ll cover three states, at least three national parks, and see sweeping coastal views and no end of charming towns.
Instead of making a 680 mile flight from San Francisco to Seattle, climate activists will be happy to know that the Diamondbacks first made a 1,800 mile flight from San Francisco to Saint Louis and then another 1,800 mile flight back to the west coast from Saint Louis to Seattle in their second road trip. Yes, the MLB is doing its part in the fight for a more sustainable world too.
In baseball terms, you get from San Francisco to Seattle via 7 games where you pound on your opponent twice but still end up with nothing, as in no series win.
The last time the Diamondbacks won a series was against the Cardinals, now two weeks ago, and with a challenging 3 weeks ahead of us (series against Dodgers, Padres, Reds twice and Orioles), Arizona really and really needs to step up their game.
After losing in St. Louis it really does not get much easier before we meet the Dodgers, because our next opponent, the Seattle Mariners, are leading the AL West, perhaps somewhat surprisingly.
Leaders in the AL West.
The Mariners are hovering around .500 in the MLB, which in the AL West is enough to be league leaders for the moment. As things stand right now in the American League, it looks like the AL West might deliver just one play-off team when all is said and done, and the Seattle Mariners are contending with the World Series champion Texas Rangers for that sole play-off spot. That is surprising. The Seattle Mariners might have been considered an outsider at the beginning of the season but are taking advantage at the moment of a disastrous start from the Houston Astros, who are in last place in the AL West with a 7-19 record.
The Mariners didn’t really start their season great though and the turn-around is something of late. They were 5-8 after their first home and away trip and 8-4 in their second turn, losing in Chicago against the Cubs (2-1), but then sweeping the Reds (3-0) and winning series against the Colorado Rockies (2-1) and the Texas Rangers (2-1). Thus, the Mariners are in a little momentum and will probably look to continue their good streak against the Snakes and we better be warned, per MLB.com:
- Mariners are 11-3 when scoring first
- Mariners are 10-5 when hitting a homer.
- Mariners are 10-4 when scoring at least four runs.
- Mariners are 12-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
- Over the last 3 series, the bullpen has an MLB-best 1.01 ERA.
Seattle will face the Diamondbacks with a few on the Injured List, of whom shortstop J.P. Crawford is probably the biggest loss. Despite a slow start to the season (.598 OPS), J.P. Crawford was still serving as Seattle’s lead-off man and logically the defensive strong horse at shortstop. Dylan Moore will man the prime position meanwhile, but manager Scott Servais will have to find a new way to put his batting order together.
It won’t be a surprise if we get to see old friend Josh Rojas as the first batter at the plate in one of the upcoming games. The Sewald-trade has worked out well for Josh Rojas, who is currently hitting .315/.383/.463. He won’t maintain that line for the Mariners, but it looks like the former Diamondback has gotten back on the track he lost in the dessert in 2023. It could be possible that he replicates his good 2021 season, which would be excellent news for both him and the Mariners.
Dominic Canzone might not have won the Award for Best Smile on the AZSnakePit, but he too has been able to seize an everyday job with the Mariners, until he got injured 10 days ago after hitting the wall at Wrigley Field and hit the Injured List with a shoulder injury. Canzone was hitting the ball quite hard in a small sample size of 35 plate appearances, popping 3 homeruns. At least we won’t see this former Diamondback hurting us in the upcoming series.
Matchups.
Arizona’s starters for game 2 and 3 are still to be announced at the moment of writing. Even ESPN doesn’t have a projected starter for game 2 yet. In other news, maybe Paul Sewald returns to the big league team, would be a very welcome help.
Game #1 Fri 04/26 6:40 PM MST, Zac Gallen (ARI) vs Emerson Hancock (SEA).
Mariners Turn Ahead the Clock Jersey Night
- Zac Gallen. 5 GS, 27.0 IP, 3 W-1 L, 3.00 ERA, 2.73 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 4.00 K/BB.
- Emerson Hancock. 4 GS, 20.2 IP, 2 W-2 L, 6.10 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 5.00 K/BB.
In what is generally considered as a thin farm system, Emerson Hancock is one of the top Mariners’ prospects, but projects as a back-end starter with an unimpressive fastball that hits 93 mph. The first round pick (6th) of the Mariners in the 2020 MLB Amateur draft made his MLB debut last year in August and pitched 10 innings over 2 games before being removed in his third start after 2 innings because of a what would later turned out to be a shoulder injury. Injuries are not uncommon for the former Georgia Bulldog, as he had another shoulder injury as well in 2021 and a lat strain in 2022. Hancock complements his fastball with a change-up and slider. The first is a good pitch, but the latter has been hit quite hard this season. Hancock has excellent command and control, but has also given up a homerun per outing. His ERA is somewhat inflated by a performance against Milwaukee in which he gave up 8 runs.
You’d give the Diamondbacks the advantage in this match, especially with Zac Gallen on the mound. Zac had a disappointing outing against the Giants. That happens to Zac from time to time, but hardly ever two times in a row, so we will probably see him pitch the Diamondbacks to a much needed win in game 1.
Game #2 Sat 04/27 6:40 PM MST, TBD (ARI) vs George Kirby (SEA).
‘90s Night – Mariners Neon Hat
- TBD.
- George Kirby. 5 GS, 25.1 IP, 2 W-2 L, 5.33 ERA, 2.59 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 8.67 K/BB.
With Ryne Nelson, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez all being unable to pitch, you’d say the Diamondbacks will probably turn to Slade Cecconi for game #2 unless they wish to call a player up from Reno. Cecconi did great in his start in San Francisco, going 6 innings and giving up just 2 runs, enough for his first major league victory.
Whoever might take mound for the Diamondbacks, he will face a challenging task to stay in line with George Kirby. Ever since making his debut in the MLB two seasons ago, George Kirby has been a solid contributor in Seattle’s rotation. Last year he was in Cy Young conversation and got his first All Star selection. Kirby had a false start of the season, allowing 13 runs in 7.2 innings of work in his first two games, but has been able to boost his confidence with solid performances against the Reds and Rockies. In his last two outings he posted a 13-1 K/BB.
The advantage here is for the Seattle Mariners.
Game #3 Sun 04/28 1:10 PM MST, Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) vs Logan Gilbert (SEA).
Little League Day – Cal Raleigh Poster (Postgame)
- Brandon Pfaadt. 5 GS, 29.0 IP, 1 W-1 L, 4.97 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 4.50 K/BB.
- Logan Gilbert. 5 GS, 33.2 IP, 2 W-0 L, 1.87 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 0.80 WHIP, 4.38 K/BB.
Brandon Pfaadt is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you gonna get. If Brandon has one of his good days, he will certainly keep the Diamondbacks in the running against Logan Gilbert, who has been as solid as he has ever been in the Mariners’ rotation. Gilbert struggled a bit with his command in his latest outing against the Rangers, but still kept them to just 2 hits and went almost 7 innings, showing how strong of a pitcher he is.
It will be a tough series and if we lose game #1, we might have to fear a sweep.